A Description of Individuals with Trepanated Skulls among Representatives of Saltovo-Mayaki Culture: A Medical Practice or Cult?

Abstract

Various sources (archaeological, literary, etc.) have pointed to the tradition of skull trepanation as known from the ancient times. The article discusses the evidence of uses of craniotomy at the end of the Early Middle Ages epoch, taking the data on burials of the Saltovo-Mayaki culture as an example. The described cases of trepanation in the milieux of different ethnic-cultural components of the Khazar Kaganate suggest a superethnic character of these operations, since their evidences are found in burials of different types.